I don’t know about you but I always consider St David’s Day as the informal end of winter – not this year, as March 1, 2018 will live long in the memory for obvious reasons.

We had all seen the weather forecast, but I feel many of us were struck not only by the volume of snow – particularly towards St Athan – but the impact of those ice cold winds that created snow drifts not seen for many decades in many parts of Barry and the Vale.

In Penmark, just off the airport roundabout, the drifts were over 12ft high in places and the village was cut off from the main roads for over 24 hours despite the best efforts of the local farmers who worked tirelessly to establish access to the village.

Thankfully the Vale has returned to a period of calm almost as quickly as the snow arrived and as I write this column the warmer weather has now arrived.

I know that some areas had issues with water and power – most of these have been addressed, but if you are having issues in Barry and the Vale please do contact me and I will follow up with suppliers for a status report.

I have been hugely impressed with the way the community has come together in Barry and the towns and villages surrounding that have checked on neighbours, unblocked lanes and helped our neighbours and friends.

That combined with the sterling efforts of the teams working round the clock for the local authority has allowed the Vale of Glamorgan to cope valiantly with some of the heaviest snow across the whole of the United Kingdom.

It is a difficult period for many of us when such heavy snow falls but the teams gritting and ploughing, emergency services, local contractors, farmers and individuals that volunteered all deserve thanks for playing their part in ensuring that the local impact of such inclement weather is kept to a minimum.

Coming together through periods of adversity to support each other is what makes Barry and the Vale such an inspiring place to live.